Self-modification of a mainframe-based business rules engine construction tool

ABSTRACT

In various embodiments, a programmable apparatus for use in a computing environment is provided. The apparatus may include a business rules engine having at least one rule executable by a mainframe system and stored based on an extensible language; and, a business rules engine builder interface configured to access the business rules engine and which permits user selection from among different rules collections in the business rules engine. At least one of the rules in the business engine is associated with modifying an aspect of the business rules engine builder interface itself.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION/PRIORITY CLAIM

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/979,503, filed on Oct. 12, 2007, the entirety ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention generally relates to systems, processes, tools andstrategies for building, configuring and processing applications in acomputer-based environment. In various embodiments, the invention moreparticularly relates to construction and implementation ofcomputer-based applications in connection with a mainframe-basedcomputing platform or environment.

BACKGROUND

To keep pace with competitors, business entities such as financialinstitutions often need to convert their business processes or workflowsinto more efficient and productive information technology solutions.Implementing even a seemingly basic change to information technologyinfrastructure, however, may require involvement by multiple functionallayers of the business including accounting, finance, customer service,information technology functions, or possibly other areas.

For example, traditional approaches to building or modifying web-basedapplications that assist with the client interface or client accessaspects of business operations usually involve engaging many technicianswith a variety of skill sets and backgrounds. Such conventionalapproaches may employ end user applications, web servers, ad hocprogramming, or other components that compound their functions withexisting information architecture to make the information technologysystem of the business even more complex and difficult to maintain.

Even when considering only the information technology function, multiplepersonnel must be identified and made available for a given applicationdevelopment task: a skilled HTML programmer may be needed to develop auser interface or browser; a graphics designer may be needed to odevelop screen presentation; a Java or .NET programmer may be needed toprogram application server functions; and/or an integration specialistwho understands HTTP or other like protocols may be needed to facilitatecommunications among different computer systems. In addition, withparticular regard to mainframe computing environments, mainframedevelopment expertise may be necessary to ensure effective datacommunications, transactions and other functionality associated withaccessing the mainframe system. Furthermore, the effort involved infunctionally testing a proposed modification such as a new web-basedapplication is typically significant, often consuming substantial timeand resources across many different functional areas of the business.

Industry movement away from mainframe-focused architecture todistributed application server-based architecture has had furthersignificant disadvantages, especially in view of the issues describedabove. For example, with respect to data originally stored andcommunicated from a mainframe system, the data must be pushed to andsynchronized with the application servers that ultimately present thedata to clients or users. In addition, modifications to applications ordata on the mainframe system must likewise be updated for anydistributed systems that depend on such mainframe applications or data.Also, copying portions of data or applications from the mainframe to adistributed application server environment can negatively impactsecurity, control, and processing speed for data transactions.

In view of the issues described above, more effective and efficientsystems, processes, tools and strategies are needed to build andconfigure applications and generally to enhance data communication andprocessing within computer-based environments, especially computingenvironments which are at least partially dependent on a mainframecomputer system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The utility of the embodiments of the invention will be readilyappreciated and understood from consideration of the followingdescription of the embodiments of the invention when viewed inconnection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a computing architecture or generalframework with which various embodiments of the invention may beemployed or operatively associated;

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an example of a mainframe-basedarchitecture with which various embodiments of the invention may beemployed or operatively associated;

FIG. 3 includes a process flow diagram illustrating a method forcommunicating and processing data in accordance with embodiments of theinvention;

FIGS. 4A through 6D include examples of interfaces configured forbrowsing portions of a mainframe system;

FIGS. 7A through 7F include examples of screen displays illustratingvarious aspects of an interface that can be used as business rulesengine builder to access a business rules engine of a mainframe system;

FIG. 8 includes an example of a screen display illustrating a loggingutility that can be used by an EAI framework to track messagescommunicated through a mainframe system;

FIG. 9 shows an example of an initiation message that can be processedby a mainframe system;

FIG. 10 shows an example of an output message matched with an XSLTtransformation;

FIGS. 11A, 11B and 12 include examples of output screens which may begenerated or configured by a user;

FIG. 13 includes a screen display presenting an example of an edit tableassociated with the output screen of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 includes a screen display of a table in a mainframe system whichcontrols lists for screens and interfaces;

FIG. 15 displays an example of an update rule screen;

FIG. 16 includes an example of a mainframe-based screen;

FIG. 17 includes an example of an update rule screen;

FIG. 18 illustrates an example of a modified update rule screen;

FIG. 19 illustrates an example of an EAI framework structured inaccordance with embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 20 illustrates an example of an EAI framework structured with amainframe-based, XML rules-based engine and various associated processsteps;

FIG. 21 includes an example of a URL search string;

FIG. 22 illustrates an example of the URL search string of FIG. 21 asconverted into XML;

FIG. 23 includes an example of an XML reply which may be communicated inaccordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 24 displays a transformed version of the XML reply of FIG. 23;

FIG. 25 includes an example of HTML generated in association with thetransformed reply of FIG. 24;

FIG. 26 shows a sample of an appended JavaScript file; and,

FIG. 27 includes an example of screen interface displayed as a result ofDHTML communicated back to a customer or data communication channel.

DESCRIPTION

In various embodiments, the inventions described herein provide systems,processes, tools and devices that offer technical and non-technicalpersonnel the ability to build and modify screens, interfaces, orweb-based applications by using configurable parameters rather thantraditional computer programming code. Complex rules and rule extensionscan be accessed by users, and this reduces reliance on receiving skilledassistance from technical professionals. In addition, embodiments of theinventions leverage the computing power, control, security and otherbeneficial aspects of including a mainframe-based platform in acomputing environment. In general, embodiments of the invention offermore effective and efficient systems, processes, tools and strategies tobuild and configure applications and enhance data communication and dataprocessing within computer-based environments which may at leastpartially depend on the operation of a mainframe computer system.

As applied herein the term “EAI” means enterprise applicationintegration which may include a set of computer system components thatallow different system platforms and business areas to communicateeffectively with each other. For example, in various embodiments of theinvention, an “OS/390” EAI framework may be employed as a gateway fordata communicated to or from a mainframe or mainframe-based system.

As applied herein, the term “XSLT” means extensible stylesheet languagetransformation which may be a program and/or protocol that facilitatesthe conversion of one data format to another (e.g., such as convertingXML to HTML).

As applied herein, the term “MQ” generally refers to a networkcommunication technology allowing independent and potentiallynon-concurrent applications on a distributed system to communicate witheach other (one example of “MQ” is “Websphere MQ” offered by IBMCorporation). MQ may be employed on many different platforms including a“z/OS” mainframe platform, for example.

As applied herein, the term “CICS” (Customer Information Control System)may represent a transaction server that operates primarily on mainframesystems under “z/OS” or “zNVSE” operating systems, for example.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a computing architecture 101 or generalframework with which various embodiments of the invention may beemployed or operatively associated. In a given session 102, a user 104may interact with a mainframe system 106, for example, such as throughuse of a screen, browser or an interface 108 that allows the user 104 tomanipulate, modify or enter data for processing by the mainframe system106. The session 102 may have a beginning state when the user 104initially begins data manipulation and an end state when the user 104completes data manipulation activity. At the end state of the session102, the mainframe system 106 may store data entered or modified by theuser 104, and/or the mainframe system 106 may direct or execute one ormore services, business actions, and/or transactions based on the datain the session 102. The data may be stored in the mainframe system 106in one or more storage media 110, which may represent persistent statedata (in a persistency layer) 110A, temporary data 110B, or other datasources 110C. In the context of a financial institution, for example,data stored on the storage media 110 may include customer informationstored on an IMS database, account information stored on a VSAMdatabase, and/or customer contact information stored on a DB2 database.

The state data developed or used in association with a given session 102may include one or more of existing data 102A, user-entered ormanipulated data 102B, or derived data 102C. For example, in the contextof the business operations of a financial institution, existing data102A may be data associated with reviewing the checking account of acustomer; user-entered or manipulated data 102B may comprise auser-entered configuration or adjustment to be made to the displayedaccount number; and, derived data 102C may comprise data generated as aresult of processing a combination of existing data 102A and/oruser-entered data 102B. Upon receiving additional information orembellishment of the session 102 from the user 104, the mainframe system106 may use the additional data to develop derived data 102C for thechecking account as a result of the session 102, such as by modifying avariable which represents how the current account balance will bedisplayed, for example.

For purposes of the present account information example, processingaccount data interface configurations or modifications through themainframe system 106 may include invoking one or more services of an EAIsystem 112. Services executed by the EAI system 112 may include callingand executing one or more APIs, for example. For example, the EAI system112 may receive account related data from the user 104, and an accountinquiry service may be invoked by the EAI system 112 to retrieve andprocess data within the mainframe system 106. Subject to the state dataassociated with the session 102, such as a tag name identified as anaccount name, the EAI system 112 may return data to the user 104corresponding to specific aspects of the state data. For example, aservice of the EAI system 112 may be invoked to parse retrieved data toselect the user ID or user name data for the user 104 from among otherstored data. In addition, one or more external data sources 122 may beaccessed in addressing user 104 requests. For example, an HTTP or MQrequest may be formatted and communicated to external data sources 122such as an Oracle database or a Lotus Notes database to retrieve andreturn the requested information to the user 104.

Non-limiting examples of transactions or data processing activitieswhich may be performed by the EAI system 112 include CICS-based protocolconversions (e.g., XML, delimited, NVP, SOAP); transport insulation(e.g., MQ, HTTP); load balancing and message routing; parallel andserial processing; error handling and message logging; messagesimulation; data conversions and domain validations; custom conversions;synchronized and non-synchronized processing; default settings; COBOLformatting (e.g., justifications, padding, binary and packed fields,etc.); rule-based parsing; tagging; data enrichment; data editing;and/or batch processes including data extraction and aggregation. Incertain embodiments, the EAI system 112 may represent a dedicated EAIsystem, in that each instance runs in its own address space and isconfigured for a specific function, such as for high volume and/orbackground transactions. Such a dedicated EAI system may be configuredfor inquiry-only processing, for example, or other less criticalfunctionality such as IVR marketing and dialer functionality to promotereduced CPU consumption and quicker system response times.

With reference to FIG. 2, an example of a mainframe-based architecture201 is illustrated in which various users 202 may build or developconfigurable applications, browse aspects of a mainframe system 204, orperform other tasks or functions through a distributed tier 206. In theexample shown, users 202 may use a browser program to type in a URLaddress for communication to the distributed tier 206 by a protocol suchas HTTP, for example. The initiating string of data or state datarepresented by the URL address may provide an indication of changes ormodifications to a screen, interface or other application as may bedesired by the user 202. In a financial institution, for example, suchapplications may include account inquiry applications, funds transferapplications, new account proposal applications, payment applications,or many others. The state data represented by the initiating string datamay change from session to session for different users 202. For example,the initiating string data may include the name of an application to beinvoked, a user ID, state data (which may specify a starting point forthe application to be invoked), and/or other pertinent data.

In the distributed tier 206, the users 202 may access a presentationmodule 206A which can be configured to generate interfaces and generallymanage interaction with the users 202. The distributed tier 206 mayinclude a .NET or WAS server, for example, configured to perform variousdata processing functions. An interface module 206B may be configured toroute or communicate calls to or from the presentation module 206A or abusiness process management (“BPM”) system 206C (e.g., such as a“Global360” or “G360” BPM system). The interface module 206B may alsoprovide MQ abstraction, such as when communicating requests or otherdata with the mainframe system 204. The business process managementsystem 206C may provide workflow management, imaging, or archivingfunctions for various aspects of the invention. In operation, a user 202configuring an application may submit a constructed application (e.g.,built by customizing user interfaces or screens, or collecting data forthe screens) to the business process management system 206C for approvalthrough another operational area or by management personnel of afinancial institution. In various embodiments, a constructed applicationmay be saved in XML format, for example, and then submitted for approvalto the business process management system 206C. The XML-formattedapplication or interface may be derived from state data associated withwork performed by the user 202. It can be appreciated that use of statedata permits users 202 to return to an application at a prior stage ofcompletion, perhaps to revise or continue work on the application.

Referring again to FIG. 2, data requests or calls may be communicatedthrough an MQ interface 206D of the distributed tier 206 through an MQhub 208 to the mainframe system 204. In various embodiments, such datarequests or calls may be communicated to the mainframe system 204 via avariety of suitable protocols. An MQ interface 204A of the mainframesystem 204 receives communications from the MQ hub 208 and passes themto an EAI framework 204B. In various embodiments, the EAI framework 204Bmay be configured to serve as an MQ connector, an XML generator ortranslator, and/or a field level data validator for data communicated toand from the mainframe system 204. The EAI framework 204B may be adistributed computing system that operates various functions of anorganization or financial institution, such as desktop functions, tellertransactions, online banking activities, and many others. In variousembodiments, the EAI framework 204B may be configured for communicationwith one or more external data sources 222, which may include one ormore non-mainframe-based data sources. Non-limiting examples ofnon-mainframe-based data sources 222 include Oracle databases, LotusNotes databases, and the external data sources 222 may include othertypes of storage devices or applications maintained or executed on anapplication server or server cluster.

In operation, the EAI framework 204B may receive XML-formatted statedata and call a service in response to the received data. TheXML-formatted data may be parsed, validated, or otherwise processed whenthe called service is executed. The processed data may be comparedagainst a business rules engine 204C of the mainframe system 204. Thebusiness rules engine 204C may contain one or more rules that can betriggered based on data processed by the mainframe system 204. Anapplication builder 204D may be operatively associated with the businessrules engine 204C. In various embodiments, the application builder 204Dmay be configured for creating presentation definitions in XML, HTML, orfor using custom tags, for example. The business rules engine 204C maybe configured to support rule definitions and pre-processing orpost-processing of transaction data. Based on the state data containedin the communicated data, the mainframe system 204 may select a blankpresentation template for communication back to the user 202 or apreconfigured presentation based on existing state data.

Based on the application invoked and the state data, the mainframesystem 204 evaluates the screen, interface or other application, andmodifications or revisions thereto, desired by the user 202. Inperforming this evaluation function, the mainframe system 204 may accessone or more before-rules and/or one or more after-rules stored in thebusiness rules engine 204C. For example, if an account number is in thestate data of the data communicated to the mainframe system 204, abefore-rule may be applied to trigger a number of transactions or dataretrieval actions, for example, prior to returning the screen orapplication to the user 202. Likewise, an after-rule may be configuredto determine whether the account number is numeric and then invoke anEAI framework 204B service that retrieves certain data in accordancewith the numeric account data. An another example of an after-rule is arule that navigates from screen to screen based on retrieved data, suchas once numeric account data is retrieved or once user authorization isconfirmed. In still another example, a subsequent screen can have anassociated before-rule that retrieves or authorizes account data orother account information once the screen is activated. In variousembodiments, the before-rules and after-rules may be generallyconsidered application logic employed by the mainframe system 204 andmay be stored as XML-based data.

In various embodiments, the business rules engine 204C may include oneor more configurable screen definitions, each of which define one ormore aspects of a given screen, interface or application. For example,screen definitions may determine whether labels, tables, pick lists,drop-down menus, check boxes, radio buttons, or many other elements aredisplayed or can be accessed on a screen or interface. In addition, thescreen definitions may determine whether one or more complex objects areapplied to a screen. Such complex objects may employ one or more otherindividual objects. An example of such a complex object is a pick list,including a label for the pick list, values for the pick list, andactions associated with selecting items in the pick list. Embodiments ofthe invention may facilitate multiple embellishments such as determiningan action when a check box is checked, such as opening access to a newportion of the screen, for example. It can be appreciated that suchscreen configuration is facilitated without requiring formal programmingor coding of scripts by the user 202.

In providing return communications of screens, interfaces, applicationsor other data to the user 202, an XSLT transformation or translation maybe performed in certain embodiments to provide HTML or another suitableprotocol which can be viewed on a browser employed by the user 202. Suchtransformation or translation may be performed by one or more portionsof the distributed tier 206, for example, or other components of thesystem architecture 201.

FIG. 3 includes a process flow diagram illustrating an example ofprocessing data between the user 202 and the mainframe system 204. Atstep 302, state data may be retrieved from the persistency layer orpermanent storage of the mainframe system 204. At step 304, input datacommunicated from the user 202 in the form of an inbound XML message,for example, may be parsed by a called parsing service of the EAIframework 204B to analyze the contents of the communicated XML messageand update the state data. The business rules engine 204C may then beinvoked at step 306A to evaluate any applicable after-rules associatedwith the current interface or application of the user 202; likewise thebusiness rules engine 204C may invoked at step 306B to evaluate anyapplicable before-rules to be applied to the user 202 interface.Application of the before-rules and after-rules at these steps may alsotrigger events such as changing a field in the state data, invoking aservice of the EAI framework 204B to read a database and then update thestate data, send an e-mail, or many other actions. At step 308, updatedstate data associated with the user 202 session may be stored to thepersistency layer of the mainframe system 204.

At step 310, the mainframe system 204 may retrieve a user-configuredpresentation layer outline to be applied as the next user interface.Based on the current state data, the presentation layer outline may beexpanded to accommodate the internal structure of the state data at step312. The mainframe system 204 may then evaluate the presentation layeroutline on a display object basis and create an output XML message atstep 314. At step 314, each display object may be interrogated todetermine one or more of the following: should it be displayed, e.g.,based on a business rule?; what is the object type, e.g., static orvariable?; what are the object attributes, e.g., static or rule-based?;what are the object properties, e.g., static or rule-based?; how is theobject populated, e.g., static from state data, static pick list,dynamic pick list invoking EAI services, defaulted, or other?; what arethe object events, e.g., static or rule based?; and/or otherconsiderations. At step 316, the output XML message may be communicatedback through the EAI framework 204B ultimately to be transformed andviewed on a browser of the user 202.

Referring now to FIGS. 4A through 4D, examples of interfaces configuredfor browsing portions of the mainframe system 204 are shown. In theseexamples, data associated with an application called New AccountProposal (i.e., “NAP”) are displayed. With reference to FIG. 4A, thescreen 402 displays a COBOL definition of fields 404, including a layoutdescription wherein the whole layout is 33,886 bytes in length; aG360-user-required-field is 137 bytes in length with an offset ordisplacement of zero; a user-key field is 40 bytes in length, which is asub-field of the G360-user-required-field and also starting at zero. Inthis example, the G360-user-required-field comprises a collection ofmultiple fields.

With reference to FIG. 4B, various components of the EAI framework aredisplayed in a screen 406, including various XML tag names 408. Thescreen 406 demonstrates how communicated XML documents can be identifiedand processed by the mainframe system 204, such as by mapping the XMLdocuments into a layout for execution by a program or application. Forexample, for a submitter-login field, a value would be provided for acorresponding OperID tag name. FIGS. 4C and 4D show additional aspectsof the XML tag names such as default values (see screen 410 of FIG. 4C)and edit table identification (see screen 412 of FIG. 4D) which can beconfigured for use by the EAI framework 204B of the mainframe system204.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a screen display 502 illustrates an example ofan edit table 504 for the NAP index (described above). The edit table504 displays screens or interfaces that are registered with the NAPindex. Based on the state data of the user 202 communicated to themainframe system 204, the edit table 504 can be applied to identify astarting point for a given interface or application. In the context ofthe example of new account proposals, the edit table 504 includesvarious different starting points and different screens that areregistered with a particular application. As shown, the edit table 504may include designations for true/false rules collections 506,designations for before-rule collections 508, and designations forafter-rule collections 510. In general, the edit table 504 may at leastpartially direct the activity of the mainframe system 204 in determiningwhere to go to find information and what tasks or transactions toperform for a given application.

With reference to FIGS. 6A through 6C, accessing the “NAPCIPID” key onthe edit table 504 of FIG. 5 generates screen displays 602, 604 for aNAP customer information page. As shown, the screen display 602 mayinclude object types, object IDs, template table (“T-TBL”), and rulenumbers (“RUL#”) among other field sets or field values. The objects mayelements such as banners or checkboxes, for example, or may be complexobjects which comprise a collection or arrangement of individualobjects. For example, a “template” may represent a collection of screencomponents for display on an interface or application. As shown in thescreen display 604, fields such as repeating group (“RGI”) 606,attributes 608, tool tips 610, labels 612, classes 614, styles 616,on-clicks 618, and map-to tags 620 may be included. For example, theon-clicks 618 may indicate that a task or function is to be performedonce a selection is made in a configured screen or interface. The map-totags 620 may be configured to map to a tag name in the state data; forexample, “atCIPCustInd” may be mapped to a corresponding name in thestate data. It can be appreciated that state data obtained from varioususer 202 sessions can be leveraged in connection with embodiments of theinvention to direct transactions, call applications, or execute dataretrieval functions occurring within the EAI framework 204B or fromexternal data sources 222 by applying definitions naturally embeddedwithin an extensible language such as XML.

FIGS. 6C and 6D show screen displays 632, 634 which result fromreviewing the “banner” object presented on the screen display 602. Thesedisplays 632, 634 demonstrate that the complex object represented by the“banner” template includes a number of individual objects, such asdifferent labels. In addition, the “banner” template may be a reusableor transferable component for different applications or interfacesconstructed by accessing the mainframe system 204.

With reference to FIG. 7A, a screen display 702 illustrates an interfacethat can be used as business rules engine builder to access the businessrules engine 204C of the mainframe system 204. The interface permits theuser 202 to select from among different rules collections 704 such as byaccessing a drop-down menu, as shown. FIG. 7B shows that the “Global 360True/False Collection” 706 has been selected; and FIG. 7C shows asampling of the individual rules 708 contained within the “Global 360True/False Collection” 706. FIG. 7D illustrates that if rule ID “A42”710 is selected from the list of individual rules 708, variouscharacteristics of the rule can be displayed or modified, such as ruledescription 712, rule type 714, rule trigger operator 716 (e.g.,“greater than” or “less than” or “equal to”), and/or trigger level 718.For example, in the rule shown, if an entry is made in a field called“BROA” (which may represent “bank regional office account”), and the“authResponse” is equal to an “A”, then one point is given. Since onepoint is greater than the trigger level of zero, the rule is activatedthen the action of “Display D2 entry fields” is executed. In contrast,if the rule has a false condition, then this action is not executed.FIG. 7E illustrates examples of different rule types 714; and FIG. 7Fillustrates different examples of rule data types 720. It can beappreciated that rules in the business rules engine 204C may perform avariety of tasks or functions when triggered. For instance, rules may beconfigured to send e-mails, to set the next screen that should bepresented in an application, to add a field to a screen in theapplication, and/or many others. The rule data types 720 may be used toset a field in the state data based on a lookup into the edit table. Forexample, if the field value is “PA”, then another field in the statedata can be connected to the lookup value, which in this case would be“Pennsylvania” for the “PA” field value.

With reference to FIG. 8, a screen display 802 illustrating a loggingutility that can be used by the EAI framework 204B to track messages(e.g., DSS messages) communicated through the mainframe system 204. Suchmessages may be communicated in association with the activity of users202 in modifying screens, interfaces, or other applications. FIG. 9shows an example of a specific initiation message and generallyillustrates the kinds of messages that can be processed by the mainframesystem 204. In various embodiments, the systems described herein mayperform message authentication including token processing (e.g.,critical messages can be secured, validated through a token or one-timeuse token, tokens may expire after a configurable time period,stand-alone token processing—a token routine can be used to authenticatedistributed system access between thick and thin client applications);message security and alerts (e.g., alerts configurable by application IDwhich can be communicated to a pager, consol log, or report); rule-basedmessage publication (e.g., messages can be queued or posted based oncontent, and a single message can have multiple publication rules,allowing for multiple subscription vehicles or publicationclearinghouses); rule-based store and forward which allows EAIapplications to store messages for processing at a later time based onmessage content (e.g., number of attempts and wait interval can beconfigured).

FIG. 10 shows an example of an output message 1002 matched with an XSLTtransformation, wherein an object type equals “div” will be transformedby the XSLT to create a “div” tag in HTML. The output message 1002 mayalso be reviewed to determine that attributes called “id” and“theScreen” are present in the message 1002. Through the XSLTtransformation, source code may be generated, such as in HTML formatwhich can be processed by a browser of the user 202.

An example of an output screen 1102 generated or configured by a user202 is shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B. The screen display 1104 demonstratesthat once “Executorships” is selected in the “Category” field 1106, thenan on-click rule is triggered to display only one account type for the“Account Type” field 1108, which is the“1-Executor/Adminstrator/Ancillary” account type.

Another example of an output screen 1202 is shown in FIG. 12. A section1204 of the screen 1202 requests that states “check all that apply” withrespect to various status identifiers for an individual client of afinancial institution (i.e., beneficiary, grantor, donee, sprinkle,guardian and settlor). FIG. 13 includes a screen display 1302 presentingan edit table 1304 associated with the output screen 1202 of FIG. 12. Asshown at line 70 of the edit table 1304, there are entries for“chkBoxHTML2” as an object type 1306 and “capacities” as itscorresponding object ID 1308. As shown in FIG. 14, a screen display 1402displays a “Radio Control Parm” table 1404 which controls lists forscreens and interfaces. As shown, entry 71 of the table 1404 points to adomain value table of 29; has a positive or “Y” required indicator(“RI”); and has a direction indicator (“DI”) value of 4 (which directsthe display of 4 boxes across the screen until the next line isreached—as shown in the section 1204 of the output screen 1202, thereare 4 boxes displayed on a first line followed by 2 boxes displayed on asecond line). The table 1404 is also a dynamic table, which means thatthe table 1404 is based on one or more dynamic features, such as actualvalues on the output screen 1202 may change based on user-entered data,for example. In general, it can be appreciated that many changes inscreen configurations can be readily and conveniently converted intowhat otherwise might be complex source code and implemented in acomputer system by employing the enhancements offered by embodiments ofthe invention.

In various embodiments, the business rules engine builder (as describedabove) may be used to build its own aspects or features. FIG. 15displays an update rule screen 1502, including definitions for “RuleAAB” 1504, in which the rule 1504 returns a “true” value if the“schemaName” field 1506 is greater than (“GT”) blank space. That is, onepoint (“1”) is assigned if “schemaName” 1506 is greater than blankspaces or a blank entry. It can be seen that since one point is greaterthan zero (which is the trigger level 1508), then the rule would returna “true” value in this scenario. As shown in the mainframe-based screen1602 of FIG. 16, the “AAB” rule number 1604 (“RUL#”) controls whether atag help message and fieldset section 1508 will appear on the “UpdateRule” screen. If the AAB rule returns a “true” value, then objects withkeys 310, 315, 320, 325 and all descendants (“PCK”) thereof will displayon the screen 1502. As shown in the update rule screen 1702 of FIG. 17,the trigger level 1704 for the “AAB” rule 1706 has been changed to avalue of “1” which will effectively prevent the rule 1706 from beingtriggered. That is, in this scenario the condition points value 1708will never exceed the trigger level value 1704. FIG. 18 illustrates thenow modified update rule screen 1802 without the tag help message andfieldset section 1508, because the “AAB” rule 1706 returns a “false”value and the screen builder will not display the objects in the section1508.

In developing the mainframe-based EAI architecture and frameworkembodiments described herein, the inventors have discovered the benefitsof leveraging existing legacy applications, creating a datasynchronization vehicle across disparate platforms and databases,combining disparate data from multiple platforms into the same userinterface, facilitating multiple message format brokering, allowingmultiple transports (e.g., MQ), and/or allowing multiple messageprotocols (e.g., XML). Within an EAI framework, legacy integration canbe readily accomplished: advanced capabilities can be created includinga business rules engine; publish and subscribe functionality andrules-based store and forward processing can be executed; variousbusiness areas of a financial institution (e.g., retail and non-retail)can be leveraged; and distributed components can be introduced includingweb services integration for messages, for example, and an XSLTframework for template-based development.

FIG. 19 illustrates an example of an EAI framework 1902 structured inaccordance with embodiments of the invention. Various customers orchannels 1904 may interact with the EAI framework 1902 through a varietyof communication media and protocols 1906, as shown. In the exemplarycontext of a financial institution, non-limiting examples ofcommunication channels 1904 include teller systems 1904A, branch systems1904B, call center systems 1904C, account links 1904D, computer systems1904E, mobile computer systems or access devices 1904F, and/orinteractive voice response (IVR) systems 1904G. Likewise, non-limitingexamples of the communication media and protocols 1906 include MQ-Series1906A, HTTP 1906B, TCP/IP 1906C, LU6 1906D, and SNA 1906E. Within theEAI framework 1902, which may be structured for operation in a mainframeor mainframe-based system, a number of components may be included forvarious transactions or functions. For example, the EAI framework 1902may include a transaction routing and load balancing layer 1902A; a dataprotocol conversion layer 1902B; a data validation layer 1902C; amessage brokering layer 1902D; an application function layer 1902E;and/or a data persistency layer 1902F.

Referring now to FIG. 20, the EAI framework 2002 may be structured witha mainframe-based, XML rules-based engine that assists with datacommunication and processing with customers or channels 2004 through anapplication server tier 2006. The channels 2004 may communicate with theapplication server tier 2006 through one or more types of communicationmedia or protocols 2008, as shown. In conventional mainframeenvironments, COBOL or another type of programming architecture isusually employed which can be considered “flat” or one-dimensional inthe sense that such programming does not fundamentally possess adescriptive language that describes where elements (e.g., objects orcomplex objects) can be accessed. In contrast, embodiments of theinvention may employ a business rules engine expressed using anextensible language such as XML, for example, as a basis for the rulestriggered and executed by the system.

At step 2022, a URL search string may be initiated from a customer orchannel 2004 through one of the communication media or protocols 2008for routing to an application server in the application server tier2006. An example of such a URL search string is illustrated in FIG. 21.At step 2024, the URL search string may be converted into XML (oranother suitable language) and then communicated to the EAI framework2002, such as via MQ. An example of the URL search string as convertedinto XML is demonstrated in FIG. 22. A reply XML is created or generatedin the EAI framework 2002 at step 2026 (an example of the XML reply isshown in FIG. 23). At step 2028, a transformation is selected andexecuted on the reply XML (an example of which is shown in FIG. 24) andHTML may be generated (an example of which is shown in FIG. 25). At step2030, JavaScript files may be appended (as shown in FIG. 26) and DHTMLmay be communicated back to the customer or channel 2004 through thecommunication media or protocol 2008 (see example screen shown in FIG.27).

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the EAI framework of theembodiments of the invention reduce or eliminate the need to rewriteprogramming or duplicate data into different distributed applications. Acore system of financial systems, for example, such as trust systems,CIF systems, customer information systems, and many others can bemaintained and accessed through a mainframe system. The EAI frameworkprovides an enterprise service bus which can translate XML, MQ, HTTP,delimited format, and data translations, while insulating or securingdata from a distributed application server system. Embodiments of theinvention therefore leverage the benefits of power, control and securitywhich arise from using a mainframe system in contrast to excessive useof distributed application servers, while also promoting a significantbrowser-based experience for customers or channels that access themainframe system.

The examples presented herein are intended to illustrate potential andspecific implementations of the present invention. It can be appreciatedthat the examples are intended primarily for purposes of illustration ofthe invention for those skilled in the art. No particular aspect oraspects of the examples are necessarily intended to limit the scope ofthe present invention. For example, components of the mainframe-basedsystems described herein may vary based on business requirements: EAIparsing algorithms can be called from both batch and on-line programsand are configurable; EAI tagging algorithms can be called from bothbatch and on-line programs and are configurable; routing rules areconfigurable; URLs are configurable; both synchronized andnon-synchronized messages can be supported; and SOAP messages can becommunicated to allow and facilitate web services communication.

It is to be understood that the figures and descriptions of the presentinvention have been simplified to illustrate elements that are relevantfor a clear understanding of the present invention, while eliminating,for purposes of clarity, other elements. Those of ordinary skill in theart will recognize, however, that these sorts of focused discussionswould not facilitate a better understanding of the present invention,and therefore, a more detailed description of such elements is notprovided herein.

Any element expressed herein as a means for performing a specifiedfunction is intended to encompass any way of performing that functionincluding, for example, a combination of elements that performs thatfunction. Furthermore the invention, as may be defined by suchmeans-plus-function claims, resides in the fact that the functionalitiesprovided by the various recited means are combined and brought togetherin a manner as defined by the appended claims. Therefore, any means thatcan provide such functionalities may be considered equivalents to themeans shown herein.

In general, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art thatvarious embodiments described herein, or components or parts thereof,may be implemented in many different embodiments of software, firmware,and/or hardware, or modules thereof. The software code or specializedcontrol hardware used to implement some of the present embodiments isnot limiting of the present invention. For example, the embodimentsdescribed hereinabove may be implemented in computer software using anysuitable computer software language type such as, for example, C or C++using, for example, conventional or object-oriented techniques. Suchsoftware may be stored on any type of suitable computer-readable mediumor media such as, for example, a magnetic or optical storage medium.Thus, the operation and behavior of the embodiments are describedwithout specific reference to the actual software code or specializedhardware components. The absence of such specific references is feasiblebecause it is clearly understood that artisans of ordinary skill wouldbe able to design software and control hardware to implement theembodiments of the present invention based on the description hereinwith only a reasonable effort and without undue experimentation.

Moreover, the processes associated with the present embodiments may beexecuted by programmable equipment, such as computers. Software or othersets of instructions that may be employed to cause programmableequipment to execute the processes may be stored in any storage device,such as, for example, a computer system (non-volatile) memory, anoptical disk, magnetic tape, or magnetic disk. Furthermore, some of theprocesses may be programmed when the computer system is manufactured orvia a computer-readable medium. Such a medium may include any of theforms listed above with respect to storage devices and may furtherinclude, for example, a carrier wave modulated, or otherwisemanipulated, to convey instructions that may be read,demodulated/decoded and executed by a computer.

It can also be appreciated that certain process aspects described hereinmay be performed using instructions stored on a computer-readable mediumor media that direct a computer or computer system to perform processsteps. A computer-readable medium may include, for example, memorydevices such as diskettes, compact discs of both read-only andread/write varieties, optical disk drives, and hard disk drives. Acomputer-readable medium may also include memory storage that may bephysical, virtual, permanent, temporary, semi-permanent and/orsemi-temporary. A “computer-readable propagation medium” may involve oneor more data signals transmitted on one or more carrier waves.

A “computer” or “computer system” may be, for example, a wireless orwire line variety of a microcomputer, minicomputer, server, mainframe,laptop, personal data assistant (PDA), wireless e-mail device (e.g.,“BlackBerry” trade-designated devices), phone, smart phone, cellularphone, cable box, pager, processor, fax machine, scanner, or anyprogrammable device configured to transmit and receive data over anetwork. Computer devices disclosed herein may include memory forstoring certain software applications used in obtaining, processing andcommunicating data. It can be appreciated that such memory may beinternal or external to the disclosed embodiments. The memory may alsoinclude any means for storing software, including a hard disk, anoptical disk, floppy disk, ROM (read only memory), RAM (random accessmemory), PROM (programmable ROM), EEPROM (electrically erasable PROM),and other computer-readable media.

In various embodiments of the present invention disclosed herein, asingle component may be replaced by multiple components, and multiplecomponents may be replaced by a single component, to perform a givenfunction or functions. Except where such substitution would not beoperative to practice embodiments of the present invention, suchsubstitution is within the scope of the present invention.

While various embodiments of the invention have been described herein,it should be apparent, however, that various modifications, alterationsand adaptations to those embodiments may occur to persons skilled in theart with the attainment of some or all of the advantages of the presentinvention. The disclosed embodiments are therefore intended to includeall such modifications, alterations and adaptations without departingfrom the scope and spirit of the present invention as set forth in theappended claims.

1. A programmable apparatus for use in a computing environment, theapparatus comprising: a business rules engine coupled to a processor ina mainframe system and at least one data storage medium, the businessrules engine including at least one rule executable by the mainframesystem in a mainframe computing environment, the business rules enginehaving at least one rule stored therein based on an extensible language;a business rules engine builder interface coupled to a processor in adistributed computing environment, the business rules engine builderinterface accessing the business rules engine, the business rules enginebuilder interface permitting selection from among different rulescollections in the business rules engine and modification of the atleast one rule based on a selection of at least one configurableparameter of the at least one rule; and wherein at least one of therules defined with the business rules engine builder interface isassociated with modifying an aspect of the business rules engine builderinterface itself and the aspect of the business rules engine builderinterface is modified based on state data in the mainframe system thatis changed during a user session; and wherein the business rules enginesupports execution in the mainframe computing environment of at leastone rule defined with the business rules engine builder interface in thedistributed computing environment.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinat least one of the rules collections includes a true/false rulescollection.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the business rulesengine builder interface permits modification of a rule descriptionbased on a user input.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the businessrules engine builder interface permits modification of a rule type basedon a user input.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the rule typecomprises at least one rule data type and wherein the at least one ruleused to set a field in state data based on a lookup into an edit table.6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the business rules engine builderinterface permits modification of a rule trigger based on a user input.7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the business rules engine builderinterface permits modification of a rule trigger level based on a userinput.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a result from the businessrules engine builder interface is provided in an XML format.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the business rules engine communicateswith an Enterprise Application Integration (“EAI”) framework of themainframe system and is triggered based on data processed by themainframe system.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the at least oneconfigurable screen definition determines whether at least one complexobject is applied to a screen.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thebusiness rules engine comprises at least one configurable screendefinition.
 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the business rulesengine comprises at least one configurable screen definition, the atleast one configurable screen definition determining whether at leastone element is accessed on an interface, and wherein the at least oneelement is selected from the group consisting of a label, a table, apick list, a drop-down menu, a check box, and a radio button.
 13. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of a before rule and an afterrule stored in the business rules engine is accessed in response to anevaluation from the mainframe system.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13,wherein the before rule and the after rule comprise application logicemployed by the mainframe system that is stored as XML-based data. 15.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a portion of the distributed computingenvironment performs an XSLT transformation and causes source code to begenerated that can be processed by a browser of a user as part ofreturning communications data to the user.
 16. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the at least one of the rule associated with modifying theaspect of the business rules engine builder interface is included in anedit table, and wherein the edit table comprises a plurality of screendisplays that are registered with particular applications.
 17. Theapparatus of claim 16, wherein at least one screen display comprises atleast one of object types, object IDs, a template table, and a rulenumber.
 18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein at least one screendisplay comprises at least one field, the at least one field selectedfrom the group consisting of a repeating group, an attribute, a tooltip, a label, a class, a style, an on-click, and a map-to tag.
 19. Aprogrammable apparatus for use in a computing environment, the apparatuscomprising: a business rules engine coupled to a processor in amainframe system and at least one data storage medium, the businessrules engine including at least one rule executable by the mainframesystem in a mainframe computing environment, the business rules enginehaving at least one rule stored therein based on an extensible language;a business rules engine builder interface coupled to a processor in adistributed computing environment, the business rules engine builderinterface accessing the business rules engine, the business rules enginebuilder interface permitting selection from among different rulescollections in the business rules engine and modification of the atleast one rule based on a selection of at least one configurableparameter of the at least one rule; and wherein at least one of therules collections includes a true/false rules collection; and wherein atleast one of the rules defined with the business rules engine builderinterface is associated with modifying an aspect of the business rulesengine builder interface itself and the aspect of the business rulesengine builder interface is modified based on state data in themainframe system that is changed during a user session; and wherein thebusiness rules engine builder interface permits modification of a ruledescription, a rule type, a rule trigger operator, and a rule triggerlevel; and wherein the business rules engine supports execution in themainframe computing environment of at least one rule defined with thebusiness rules engine builder interface in the distributed computingenvironment.
 20. A method for using a programmable apparatus in acomputing environment, the method comprising: coupling a business rulesengine to a processor in a mainframe system and at least one datastorage medium, the business rules engine including at least one ruleexecutable by the mainframe system in a mainframe computing environment,the business rules engine having at least one rule stored therein basedon an extensible language; coupling a business rules engine builderinterface to a processor in a distributed computing environment, whereinthe business rules engine builder interface is configured to access thebusiness rules engine; facilitating selection, with the business rulesengine builder interface, from among different rules collections in thebusiness rules engine, wherein at least one of the rules collectionsincludes a true/false rules collection, and wherein the business rulesengine builder interface permits modification of at least one rule in arules collection, the modification being based on a selection of atleast one configurable parameter of the at least one rule, the at leastone configurable parameter being at least one of a rule description, arule type, a rule trigger operator, and a rule trigger level; anddefining with the business rules engine builder interface at least onerule associated with modifying an aspect of the business rules enginebuilder interface itself such that the aspect of the business rulesengine builder interface is modified based on state data in themainframe system that is changed during a user session; and executingwith the business rules engine in the mainframe computing environment atleast one rule defined with the business rules engine builder interfacein the distributed computing environment.